


Why We Skate

by Anonymous



Series: Gen Figure Skating Fics [1]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Brian is so proud of his boi, Fluff, Gen, Kiss and Cry, Not a ship fic, PLATONIC coach-student relationship, Yuzu sets another world record, Yuzuru is the cutest, and the nicest to his fans, because he is the goat, just pure fluff, read this because it's cute I think?, yall wont catch me doing anything else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28868949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: "When he looked back, Yuzuru had crouched down to be at eye level with the kid- who, in fact, looked like he was about to start crying with joy right then and there. This definitely violates some kind of regulation, Brian thought, but he was way too invested in the sheer cuteness of it all to care."A young fan interrupts the Kiss and Cry, and nobody is upset about it.
Relationships: Yuzuru Hanyu & Brian Orser
Series: Gen Figure Skating Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2133261
Kudos: 30
Collections: Anonymous





	Why We Skate

At some point, the faces of the crowd blended together until it was impossible to distinguish individual people under the bright lights. Holding his ending pose in a moment of silence as the music faded, Yuzuru looked down at the tracks he had created on the ice- a perfect circle from his spins here, a small chip taken out from his jump there. 

Before the last notes could finish playing, the electric atmosphere of the arena erupted from a quiet, reverent energy to a burst of applause. 

He took his time with the bows, knowing that Brian and Tracy would be waiting with a smile and a hug at the side. Yuzuru allowed himself to soak up the attention for a few moments before kneeling down and touching the ice, as if transferring the audience’s approval into gratitude for the joy that the ice had brought them. 

While the audience’s cheers always gave him a rush, coming off the ice to his coaches’ familiar faces was almost even better. Yuzuru lit up after seeing Brian’s contagious smile, and Tracy’s warm hug calmed the rapid beating of his heart and expelled the last of the nerves that he had carried into the rink during the competition. 

He quickly slid on his skate guards and followed Brian to the Kiss and Cry as Tracy went to speak with Jun Hwan, who was a couple performances away from showing off his own program. 

“Wow. I mean, that was probably the best skate of your life, no?” Brian laughed, nudging Yuzuru’s side as they sat down. Yuzuru smiled shyly and wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel before responding. 

“I think so. It felt really good.” 

Brian chuckled again, shaking his head as they watched the replays. “Good is one word for it.” 

/////////////////

Brian didn’t know how else to put it- he was incredibly proud of Yuzuru. Training for a year without coaches during the pandemic had been hard on everyone, but Brian had come to know just how much Yuzuru had struggled while on his own. He was proud of Yuzuru for fighting through it, and proud of him for continuing to work hard. 

Suddenly, Brian spotted a young Japanese boy standing at the bottom of the steps up to the Kiss and Cry. The kid couldn’t be more than seven years old, and had the cutest bowl haircut Brian had ever seen- well, next to Yuzuru’s own as a little kid. Actually, the boy’s haircut seemed to resemble Yuzuru’s old one a lot. 

The boy tried to jump up the steps of the Kiss and Cry where Yuzuru was seated next to Brian, but before he could get too far a staff member that had been working at the rink during the competition put her arm out to abruptly stop him in his tracks. 

Brian looked over at Yuzuru, who was watching the scene with a frown. When the boy craned his neck to look over the staff members arm, Yuzuru waved at the staff to let him go. 

Which, to Brian’s surprise, the staff member did (after a slight hesitation). Huh. Perks of being famous, he guessed. Brian didn’t even know how the kid had made it to the main floor. He looked around wildly at the arena, suddenly very worried about the lack of security. 

When he looked back, Yuzuru had crouched down to be at eye level with the kid- who, in fact, looked like he was about to start crying with joy right then and there. This definitely violates some kind of regulation, Brian thought, but he was way too invested in the sheer cuteness to care. 

Yuzuru was patiently nodding along while the kid stumbled through his words as though he had prepared a speech but was too awestruck and overwhelmed to deliver it properly. Brian couldn’t understand his Japanese, but he didn’t need a translator to see the pure joy and emotion radiating from the boy’s face. 

After a few moments, he looked in horror as the kid actually started to cry. Where was his mom? Could they be liable for a crying kid? 

Brian’s panic was interrupted when Yuzuru calmly turned around and pulled a tissue out of the Winnie the Pooh tissue box he had taken to the Kiss and Cry that day. Yuzuru gently dabbed the few tears that had fallen on his cheeks and handed the boy the rest of the tissue so he could blow his nose. 

When the boy had calmed down again, Yuzuru lifted him under the armpits and sat him across his own lap. He lifted the boy’s hand in a wave as the camera’s came closer to capture the image. Yuzuru smiled politely at the flash of the cameras and continued to hold the boy securely on his lap as he waved excitedly at the attention. 

Brian couldn’t help it- he pulled out his iPhone and quickly snapped a picture himself. It was moments such as these that made the struggles and the sweat during practices worth it, and he wanted Yuzuru to remember the impact he made on people young and old alike. 

Soon, the numbers were being displayed across the screen in front of them. If it was possible, Brian smiled even wider upon hearing Yuzuru’s well deserved numbers fill the room as the commentator shouted them out with passion. 

Yuzuru simply bowed as much as he was able to while still holding the boy in his lap, and raised the kid’s arms up in celebration. 

Eventually, the yells from the crowd died down and the next competitor took his place on the ice. 

Eventually, Yuzuru set the kid down and grasped the boy’s hand as he led him down the steps of the Kiss and Cry. 

Eventually, the boy was returned to a very apologetic yet starstruck mother who repeated her thanks in Japanese. 

Eventually, after Yuzuru stood his ground at the top of the podium, the lights in the arena were shut off and the ice was left to melt. 

What never faded, however, was the excitement and joy everyone had felt that night; the strength they had received from watching Yuzuru’s record setting program. 

What never faded was the lasting impression Yuzuru left on the people around him- from the young boy sitting on his lap to the fans sitting in the farthest seats. 

/////////////////

  
  


“What did the boy say?” Brian asked later that week while they were taking a break during practice. They had returned to the club in Toronto and gotten back into a practice rhythm quite quickly, leaving little room to talk about the competition. 

Yuzuru looked at him in confusion. “Huh?” 

“At the Kiss and Cry- the boy you talked to,” Brian reminded him. 

“Oh,” Yuzuru said, realizing what Brian was referring to. He tilted his head a bit to find the right words in English. “He said he almost quit skating. That people made fun of him. But then he won first place at his competition. We talked about performing.”

Yuzuru then took a drink from his water bottle and ducked his head slightly. “He uhh… he said I inspired him.” 

Brian smiled. “You inspire me too, Yuzuru,” he said. 

There wasn’t much else he could say, and he only hoped that Yuzuru knew the impact he had on his fans. 

The impact Yuzuru had on him.

  
Not to mention the incredibly adorable picture of Yuzuru with a kid in his lap that was sitting in Brian’s camera roll, which he definitely went around showing everybody the second he was able to.   
  


Perks of being Yuzuru Hanyu's coach. 

**Author's Note:**

> Umm I just realized that this barely has any dialogue sorry!! But this idea has been going through my head ever since I saw a video of Yuzu with kids and I swear I had a heart attack from the cuteness. 
> 
> The King saved 2020 by giving us Let Me Entertain You and Heaven and Earth and let me be the first to say those were literal masterpieces and I will never forgive jsf for their scoring <3 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this and have a great day/night! Thanks so much for reading!


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